Power for dummies

Hiyas,

Below is a pici of the power into our house (dunno what's it tech called...)

I am going to paint the area surrounding it in the Spring.

Some definitions/clarifications first...

1. The black box, what's it called?
2. Why the pulley? (the power line runs in and is run along a circular (rubber?) disc). What's this for? Mmmm, so it has some leeway?
3. Looks like it's been replaced (moved) at some stage (by the 4 holes either side of the hook?). I want to fill these.

QUESTIONS:

1. I'd rather paint this completely. That is, get underneath the box etc. Is this feasible (and no, I don't fancy being fried)? OK, some I'm anal, but the house is v/old and the timber needs protection. Would a sparky be all that's required, or does the elec provider need to be involved too (nup, paint around it).

2. At which point/physically is this really dangerous? eg: If I grab the main wire/feed will I be fried? Or would I need to be standing on a nice alumminium ladder sitting in water first? I'm only talking about painting here, not mucking with the power.

Thanks guys.

The black box is the fuse box where the house supply connects to the electricity grid. Mine has screws on the outside of the fuse box which holds it onto the timber so it can be taken of and replaced. Don't know if you are allowed to do it but I wouldn't touch it whilst the supply is live.

The pulley holds the cable so there is no stress onto the connection to the fuse box.

Whilst all this is insulated I wouldn't touch any in case there is a short. If you are going to fill the holes and paint around it I would suggest you use a wooden ladder and make sure everything is very dry and don't touch the cable.

A few years ago I had to replace the board where the fuse box was but I was lucky that linesmen where working outside on the pole so they disconnected the supply at the pole for me whilst I was doing it.


Peter.

Mines a worry. The line snakes in quite low, the garden and front are a metre higher than the house and I can practically taste it.

I have visions of it becoming loose in a storm!

Call your local power authority and have the power disconnected at the pole - there should be no charge. You don't want to become a dead hero unless you've left all your woodwork gear to me in your will :) The biggest problem with electricity is that you can't see it coming! Accidents can and do happen - don't become another statistic. With the power off you can relax and get to fill and paint and do the job properly and more quickly. You will also be able to get under the box to paint without any worries.

Your local supply authority should be able to install what are called 'tiger tails' where the power line connects to your property.
These are yellow and black tubes, about a metre ot so in length, that slip over the wires to provide a visual warning and some protection against accidentally touching the wires while painting.

First up dont believe that the energy distributor won't charge you for disconnect then reconnect. You may be horrified at the cost.:eek:

The little "pulley" is a ceramic insulator so that there is very little chance of making your residence "live".

Your consumer main is described as ABC mains or aerial bundled cable mains which means that the single cable you see has two seperately insulated conductors within the outside sheaf of insulation material. To put this simply you have a double insulated cable coming into your house.

To paint around the cable should be relatively safe but you need to look at it closely first - without touching it!!. The cable may have cracks in the insulation which would need to be noted.

As for the point of entry box, this is not something that is found in Sydney looking like this?? From your image it looks as if the Consumer Fuse is in there (poor image - hard to tell) but in Sydney this is normally mounted in the consumer fuse box along with the meters on the side of the house. Do not go poking anything into this. By law it should be insulated unless you Mexicans have diferent laws to us but I don't think you do??

To get someone for disconnection and re-connection look for authorised service providers with a Category 3 (I think) license. Using your Energy Distributor will probably cost more and take longer.

If you grab the wires where the insulation is damaged or poke something in the POE box you may die.

havenoideaatall

I believe your mains should not be below 3.3m these days - could have been 2.7m previously. I recently had mine upgraded to 100amp and they had to put this big bracket on the house to get it above to legal minimums.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Markw

First up dont believe that the energy distributor won't charge you for disconnect then reconnect. You may be horrified at the cost.:eek:

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United Energy quoted me $ 450 for disconnecting, waiting 20 minutes and then reconnecting at the pole. As I said I got lucky and got it for nothing.:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Markw

From your image it looks as if the Consumer Fuse is in there (poor image - hard to tell) but in Sydney this is normally mounted in the consumer fuse box along with the meters on the side of the house.

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It is the fuse box and normally it is outside and not in the meterbox. The fire brigade has a long pole and use it to remove the fuse when they come to a house fire. That way they don't have to look for a meter box but just look where the wires enters the house.


Peter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sturdee

.....................It is the fuse box and normally it is outside and not in the meterbox. The fire brigade has a long pole and use it to remove the fuse when they come to a house fire. That way they don't have to look for a meter box but just look where the wires enters the house.


Peter.

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Peter,
don't know what the firies do down there, but up here the fuse is on the power pole out on the street (pole fuse). We have a "hot stick" on our fire appliance for this. It wouldn't make sense to only pull a fuse on the house itself as the ABC would still be live. It might fall down if it was burnt through or the fascia was burnt and it would still pose a shock risk to the crew spraying water close to it.

Mick

In most of Sydney we don't even have a pole fuse. Just let the wire short to ground and blown the local pole top or kiosk fuses and put the whole neighbourhood in blackout. :D :D

Makes for lovely big blue sparks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by journeyman Mick

Peter,
don't know what the firies do down there, but up here the fuse is on the power pole out on the street (pole fuse). We have a "hot stick" on our fire appliance for this. It wouldn't make sense to only pull a fuse on the house itself as the ABC would still be live. It might fall down if it was burnt through or the fascia was burnt and it would still pose a shock risk to the crew spraying water close to it.

Mick

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Mick, I don't know if there is an additional fuse on the pole as well in case of a major fire, but when we had the fire at the other side of the house from where the power line comes in that's what they did.

Hence my comments, and I hate to be reminded of that day.:eek:


Peter.

Thanks for the replies all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by floobyduster

Call your local power authority and have the power disconnected at the pole - there should be no charge.

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Gee, dunno about this flooby. If you're correct I'll be a happy camper! I fear however you must have awful nice auth's up in Toowoomba. I'll ring, but I have this feeling...

I'd love to be able to get in behind that box. Can I just confirm that if the power is off at the pole, I can approach that box with confidence?

Cheers all.

Must have had a brain brown-out :) I keep forgetting we're now living in a society of user pays, pays, pays ... I checked up with Energex the local supply guys - $131-67 for a temporary disconnection - two visits - one to pull the pole fuse and one to replace it.

The guys that pull the fuse should be able to give you all the gen on the box.

Trust it all goes well.